News Archive - August 2011

Seven arrested for UK visa problems

Seven people have been arrested for breaches of UK visa conditions at a cash and carry in West London.

UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers conducted a raid on the Ginco wholesalers in Greenford with the support of the Metropolitan Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team. They questioned staff to ascertain whether or not they had the right to work in this country or not.

Following the interrogation process, it was discovered that four men from India and one from Sri Lanka had been working in the store illegally after their UK visas had expired. Another man from India was found to have entered the country illegally, while a further man from Sri Lanka was arrested for working in breach of his UK visa conditions.

One of the Indian nationals has been granted UK immigration bail while the UKBA secures a travel document for him, while the other six men are being held in detention ahead of their removal from this country.

The workers were discovered at both Ginco and Serendib Global Foods Ltd, which was registered at the same address. Both of the firms now face fines of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker if they are unable to prove that they conducted the correct right-to-work checks before hiring the employees.

Alex Legg, chief immigration officer for the UKBA Ealing local team, commented: "We also want to send out a strong message to employers. It is the legal responsibility of all businesses to check their employees have the right to work in the UK. If you don't, you could get hit with a big fine.

"Every year, the UK Border Agency imposes civil penalties on thousands of companies which fail to carry out proper right-to-work checks on staff."